Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Shuddh Videshi Ghee ar Alu Sheddo

I made Ghee, at home, with my own hands. No I didn't milk the cow or anything and I used a shortcut, but if we put that aside, I made Ghee in bold letters.

With that I graduate from a regular Mom to the ubiquitous Aunty-ji. Pleez do consult me with all your gharelu(household) problems including mom-in-law , husband , bai and water shortage, and of course how to make ghee. That I can't make decent phulkas shall not be discussed in this post.

So I never made ghee @ home before. Never needed to. My ma and ma-in-law took it upon themselves to send home made shuddh desi ghee for Big Sis S till she turned 3. After that it was store bought which was used sparingly since we are not big time ghee eaters. Now Baby A has started on solids and it was time to introduce fat to her. There was no grandma around and Mom found out that making shuddh videshi ghee was not difficult at all, much easier than the cow's milk --> boil milk to gather the cream on top --> save the top cream from milk for days --> make desi ghee route

In a heavy bottomed pot/vessel/pan place 4 sticks of organic unsalted butter. At medium heat let the butter melt. There will be foaming and bubbling while the butter melts but soon this will subside. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered. Stir intermittently. Gradually you will see milk-solids turning from beige to brown and settling down at the bottom while a clear transparent golden liquid remains at top. Once the milk solids turn a deep shade of brown turn off the heat. Note:The point at which you turn off the heat is critical, too little or too much is not desired.Keep watch and don't burn the milk-solid. Also keep the heat at low and don't try to hasten the process by turning heat to high.

Do not disturb the vessel/pot/pan and let the milk solids settle down at the bottom while only the clear liquid remains at the top.

Decant the liquid by tipping the vessel gently and collecting the liquid in a clean dry glass jar. You can also use a cheese cloth or any clean cotton cloth for this purpose

The golden liquid that you just collected is precious ghee. Smell. Heaven.

Let the ghee come to room temperature. Close the jar tight and store at room temperature. If ghee is not made correctly i.e. cooked too little it tends to spoil or sour, but if made correctly it stores well at room temperature

Now we Bengalis do not throw away anything that is edible and the deep brown milk solids that remain at the end of the ghee making process are a delicacy for us. We call it cha(n)chi (ch as in chair and then a nasal sound for n) and eat it mixed with plain white rice, salt and mashed potatoes. Strangely while I do remember the smell of ghee from my childhood, more than the ghee I remember this rich brown "leftover" granules which we used to savor mixed with white rice.

So while the home was fragrant with the smell of ghee we enjoyed a rare dinner of rice, alu sheddo with finely chopped onions and green chillies and dollops of ghee & cha(n)chi.

To make alu sheddo(siddho), boil potatoes skin on till done. Hold under running water and peel the potato. Mash with back of a spatula. Add little mustard oil, finely chopped red onion, finely chopped green chilli and salt. Now with clean hands work all of this in the potato and make smooth rounds of mashed potato. Enjoy this with white rice and dollops of golden ghee.

According to Ayurveda, Ghee builds the aura, makes all the organs soft, builds up the internal juices of the body-Rasa, which are destroyed by aging and increases the most refined element of digestion-Shukra or Ojas, the underlying basis of all immunity and the “essence of all bodily tissues”. Ghee is known to increase intelligence--Dhi, refine the intellect-Buddhi and improve the memory-Smrti.

A little bit of ghee added to your food boosts the flavor and if that ghee is home made the taste triples. So like me if you do not use ghee as a cooking medium, occasionally add half a tsp of ghee just before finishing off your cooking and savor the goodness of ghee.

41 comments:

Home madeghee is just full of ayurvedic values... I am a person who can never stand too much hot climate, i start boiling instantly... I was fed my grandmas ghee everyday!!! Oh how much I miss those homemade stuff...

I have neve rmade ghee at home eventhough my sis always say it is so easy to make and she tells me in the phone how tomake and i am like ya ya , but never do.May i have a botled from you.I can always be your big sis :-)

When I first made ghee post marriage, I felt I had arrived. It gave me the confidence of being a good homemaker and a good mother! I love it when my kitchen fills up with the aroma of ghee-in-the-making. Lovely blog you have here--keep up the good work!

Hi Sandeepa,The title got me into splits ....lol hmmm.. ghee and I have hello, hi-bye relation from quite sometime :) I avoid it almost completely in daily cooking n stuff....the only bottle of store brought ghee is used for bhagvan ka diya :) hmmmm...interesting to read how the residue is used up....I will have a detailed discussion on this with S :)and make him nostalgic.S taught me to make aloo bhate/chokha :) this used to be a frequent dish those days when I was an L board in cooking ;) great nostalgia sandeepa.Was reading shaggy's comment and got double nostalgic...coz that dish also was tutored to me by S :) it tastes amazing though.Thanks for the videshi ghee making techqnique, for me to make it here...I'll have to fly to US to buy butter...fly back home and make it right :)? Videshi ghee!!! kidding;) love desi ghee for it's purity. Nice post as always.Enjoy the week ahead.Happy ghee feeding to ur little one :)TC

Homemade ghee, the auroma and the leftover milk solids all are heaven to me. I love it eat ghee plain, mixed with sugar or with sambar, tamarind kolumbu and what not ? This ghee looks eally glorious and golden and lucky little S :) We used to mix ragi flour in the kadai having the leftovers when its still hot (but stove switched off) and little sugar and fry for a minute and make into balls. Those were after treats after making ghee during childhood days! Lovely post Sandeepa!

are you having trouble with phulka? not sure exactly which one is called phulka, but i always had trouble with ruti, especially making it swell up like I'd seen it do elsewhere, but have managed it now. i use stone ground flour and lots of water and roast them on the frying pan. When they're almost cooked I put them on the gas for a bit like papor and the balloon!

Yes ruti, I just don't like making it because it takes me a whole lot of time. You know I have a N. Indian friend and rolling out phulkas/roti for her is as easy as making say alu seddho.For me it is not that simple. Anyway I have got someone taking care of that and only D has roti anyway, I get done with bhaat and tortilla

cant remember if I did leave a comment about this or just thought about it in my head, but i was wondering if you would do one of your cool and easy versions of the traditional shorshe ilish recipe? i tried making it (andaj-e) with mustard powder, green chilli and salmon, but it just come out bitter!

Haven't done shorshe for while now. Use my bottle of kasundi to bake salmon on busy days.But I have a recipe here where ilish is with doi & shorshe while the other one is a shorshe fish the Oriya way. The oriya way has garlic with mustard and that would be good with salmon.Try themhttp://www.bongcookbook.com/2007/08/doi-ilish-and-machha-besara.html

With your gravatar, the profile pic, you are one Hot Aunty, if you are one :D I was just kidding about the "Auntyji" thing though.I have been one for long though and even have comments where readers call me Aunty :)

I have always enjoyed visiting your blog but never left a comment before. The next time you make ghee add a few fenugreek seeds when the milk solids are a light brown, the aroma it releases is awesome.

I am trying to make ghee with this way today following your instructions :)...back home I am habitual of collecting dudh'er shor for over a time and then making ghee out it, kinto eyikhane ki kori , tai tumaar way te try korlaam.used 250 gms of salted butter and some sticks of cinnamon for a nice aroma..thank you for sharinghugs and smiles

Ghee, alu bhatay, deem sheddo and bhaat is my all time favorite. I mean I can kill for it! Of course I also bite off the tips of kancha lonka.

I have never tried making ghee at home, but when I was in Bangalore, I remember Lakshmi Amma adding a pinch of turmeric powder to get that golden color in the ghee. It always looked so beautiful on a sunny kitchen window!

I think the point at which you switched off the heat was where it went a bit wrong. If you do it too late, the milk solids burn and if too early then the ghee is not formed well. But you will learn and the first time is always a experience from where you learn something :-)

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Predominantly a Bong, who loves being a Mom and loves to cook among other things for the li'l one and the big ones.She loves to write too and you will find her food spiced up with stories. Mainly a collection of Bengali Recipes with other kinds thrown in, in good measure. A Snapshot of Bengali Cuisine